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Supervised 'injecting centres' could help drug addicts - report

Merchants Quay Ireland has called for new approaches to respond to intravenous drug users in Dublin city centre for the benefit of drug users and the wider community.

NEW APPROACHES ARE needed to respond to intravenous drug users in Dublin city centre, with high levels of poly drug use being noted by experts working in the field.

A seminar a report launched by Alex White,TD, Minister of State for Primary Care shows that while the most prevalent drug used was heroin, the majority of drug users are now poly drug users with (75 per cent) using more than one drug.

The report, “A Safer City for All – addressing the risks of injecting drug use”, was organised by Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) and Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP). It showed:

  • High levels of poly drug use. While the most prevalent drug was heroin, the report shows the majority of drug users are now poly drug users with (75 per cent) using more than one drug
  • High levels of Hepatitis C (Hep C) and other blood borne viruses (BBV) amongst intravenous drug users (IDUs). 45 per cebt of IDUs in the study reported being positive for Hep C
  • A high risk group of IDUs, where a high incidence of unsafe injecting practices and sharing of equipment are combined with low rates of testing for HIV and Hep C
  • Low access to treatment amongst IDUs who tested positive for Hep C. out of 125 who tested positive for Hep C only 18 were in treatment.

Experts at the seminar called for a number of recommendations to be considered, including the need for easy access to medical detoxification for poly-drug users. The highlighted the fact that many detoxification centres are currently aimed people who use only a single substance such as heroin, or require users to meet relatively high thresholds of stability to access treatment – which they say can further marginalise a proportion of drug users from treatment.

A need for access to blood borne virus (BBV) testing and treatment to be available in current service centres such as MQI’s Health Promotion Unit and ALDP’s Medical Service was also raised. Exploring the concept of Medically Supervised Injecting Centres (MSIC) currently in use in other cities like Madrid or Sydney was also recommended, with data showing these centres can provide early intervention and address issues related to on-street injecting.

“The report confirms people are still using heroin, but polydrug use is now the dominant trend. This means detox services in Ireland have to match the need,” Tony Geoghegan CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland said. “In Ireland there are currently no detox options for this group. Furthermore the report shows a critical need for testing for Hep C and other Blood borne viruses (BBVs) in this at risk group to improve individual health through appropriate treatment but also to reduce the spread of the these diseases.”

“MQI’s current Needle and Syringe Programmes are about harm reduction. Service provision reduces levels of anti-social behaviour, reduces the harm of drug use and can be a first point of contact for detox and rehabilitation options”

Tony Duffin, Director at Ana Liffey Drug Project, also commented on the main findings of the report, saying: “Of particular interest to me is the finding that 14 per cent of the people surveyed reported generally using in public areas. Ana Liffey is committed to exploring innovative models to address these concerns”.

Column: ‘Your hope goes, and that’s that’ – a homeless drug user’s story
Column: To fight the drug problem, we must treat users with compassion

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66 Comments
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    Mute LoyalIrish Citizen
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    Dec 26th 2011, 10:28 AM

    I agree with almost everything that you have written.

    My reasons for these things to happen, which allows them to get away with
    with what everybody knows to be wrong is the use of opinions in law.

    The purpose of using opinions in law is to commit crime, hide the details
    of the crimes, circumvent the rules and avoid prosecution.

    Irish Courts have been allowing the use of opinions over 8300 times since
    1922, which is in complete contradiction to people questioning evidence.

    The only way get the use of opinions in law to commit crimes is to falsify
    the rule books of Ireland.

    If you study opinions in law it will explain everything that you need to
    know, which you can get access to the laws of Ireland at the Attorney
    Generals website :- http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/home.html

    Regards

    LoyalIrishCitizen

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    Mute Pat Ambrose
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    Dec 26th 2011, 1:36 PM

    I have seen people getting jail for stealing groceries, yet the bankers, politicians, (some) get away scot free to rob and plunder all over again.

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    Mute Dermot Purcell
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    Dec 26th 2011, 10:40 AM

    Your article nick on white collar crime is spot on except for you call it wrongdoing i call it FRAUD ,can you imagine if there was a real investigation in to the banks and seanie was in there spilling the beans on cowen and bertie judges and all the heads and top level managment of every institution in this country ,can people imagine the fall out and our image abroad would be in tatters, this is why nobody going to jail in this country .

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    Mute Ultan Quirke
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    Dec 26th 2011, 11:19 AM

    Our image abroad is already in tatters.

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    Mute Richard Coady
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    Dec 26th 2011, 11:24 AM

    Great article Nick. Engrossing as always. Would love to read something from you on the actual workings of bankruptcy and it’s day to day effects, what you can and can’t do. You allude to your direct experience with money lenders. Any chance of writing a book on your experience of post barings?

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    Mute Chris Coffey
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    Dec 26th 2011, 2:03 PM

    Brilliant stuff, as always. I’m starting to click into Nicks articles the minute I see his name. No better reading on here then the articles by people who know exactly what their talking about, not to mention his extra insight into the risks that people in finance can take.

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    Mute Joe Sixtwo
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    Dec 26th 2011, 12:13 PM

    Nice piece of work Nick.

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    Mute Jean Morel
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    Dec 26th 2011, 9:46 PM

    I said Ireland was a land of criminals way back in the mid 80′s.

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    Mute Ardo Ci
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    Dec 27th 2011, 10:28 AM

    Well said, Nick! Well said, indeed. Ireland is no longer the ‘ land of saints and scholars ‘ but rather the ‘ land of crooks and criminals’. The ordinary people don’t deserve what’ s happening. What we need now is an ‘Irish’ Cromwell to rise from among us.

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    Mute Sheila Murphy
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    Dec 28th 2011, 1:10 PM

    I must say I couldn’t agree more with the points he’s making about the tribunals; complete waste of millions & millions of Euros….. again no actions taken from any of them. Ridiculous set-ups.

    And I’ve seen the ads on UK TV to which he refers re the pay-day quick loans. Think about in whose hands those loans end up in, when you can’t afford to repay their exorbitant interest amounts??? You don’t think that they eventually don’t get sold on to very unscrupulous people who don’t care HOW they get their money back??? Very dangerous. And again it’s the most financially vulnerable that end up in these situations…….. very sad,

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    Mute Geoffrey Collins
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    Dec 28th 2011, 10:16 AM

    Why is nick treated with such fawning when he was guilty of the same financial gambling as happened in Anglo? I enjoy his articles also but is there not a hint of kettle pot black?

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    Mute Sheila Murphy
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    Dec 28th 2011, 1:08 PM

    well he went to prison for it Geoffrey and served his time. More than has happened to the bankers here unfortunately. Depressing thought.

    It’s interesting to read an opinion of one who was there, so to speak.

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    Mute Felim O'Neill
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    Jan 6th 2012, 12:42 AM

    Question to Nick.

    It always interests me that the Financial Services professional view tends to be subjective and overly fascinated with itself.

    As a challenge, if you had a vision of “Next Gen” Capitalism, what would it look like? Hopefully as a thinking man, with all your training and experience, you might secretly have a vision for how stuff should work next time around. If so, please share it with us!

    While many agree we need to put checks/balances in place before next Bull Run, we need to put todays Bear on some sort of financial Prozac for the nerves.

    Hope and Vision please.

    Thanks again,

    Felim O’Neill

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